Champions League Betting: Panathinaikos and co desperate for showdown with the big guns

Champions League / Ben Lyttleton / 28 July 2009 / Leave a Comment

"Another team no-one will want to face is Panathinaikos. The Greek club
continues their seemingly regular match-up against Czech opposition with a
trip to Sparta Prague. Last season, Panathinaikos won 2-1 in Prague and 1-0
in Athens at the same stage of the competition, while in previous years,
they have played, and beaten, Slavia Prague and Mlada Boleslav."

Perennial Champions League Group stagers Panathinaikos will eventually play the likes of Arsenal or Lyon for a place in the Champions League. But before that, there's plenty for them and the likes of Sporting Lisbon and Shaktar Donetsk to do this week, says Ben Lyttleton.

The prize for the winners of the inaugural Champions League third qualifying round Non-Champions Path draw will come as a mixed blessing: a high-profile play-off against one of Arsenal, Lyon, Stuttgart, Fiorentina and Atletico Madrid for a place in the group stages. And yet those big boys will be desperately keen to avoid a tough test against some impressive opposition, among them Uefa Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk and European group stage regulars Sporting Lisbon.

Another team no-one will want to face is Panathinaikos. The Greek club continues their seemingly regular match-up against Czech opposition with a trip to Sparta Prague. Last season, Panathinaikos won 2-1 in Prague and 1-0 in Athens at the same stage of the competition, while in previous years, they have played, and beaten, Slavia Prague and Mlada Boleslav. This week, they take on Sparta with the differences between the two clubs greater than ever.

Sparta's summer has been dominated by financial problems and though they have brought in five new players, all were free signings or loan deals, and some of them, like Martin Kuncl and Lubos Kalouda, were not regulars at their previous clubs. Of more concern to popular coach Jozef Chovanec is the injury crisis that has ruled out three of their four first-choice midfielders, among them Patrik Berger and Juraj Kucka. Their strike-force lacks a prolific scorer and with Jan Holdena, 23, the only forward aged over 20, inexperience will be a problem.

The situation could not be more different at Panathinaikos, whose president Nikos Pateras has given coach Henk Ten Cate a mouth-watering €25m budget to spend on new players. He wasted no time in signing Sebastien Leto from Liverpool for €7m and broke the Greek transfer record with a €10m swoop for Djibril Cisse. Last week, he added Sweden Under-21 captain Mattias Bjaesmyr to boost the defence while Costas Katsouranis has been brought in from Benfica to add experience to the midfield.

Their target for the season is to end Olympiakos's stranglehold on the Greek title - they have won 12 of the last 13 titles - but the consolation that Pana fans have is their European record is far superior to their rivals. The Greeks earnt decent reviews following their last two friendlies and with Cisse scoring his first goal in last week's 1-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach, have a clear edge over their opponents in front of goal. That's why the safe bet is for the Greek side to take a lead into the return leg
at [2.52] while there is value in backing a narrow away win, 1-0 or 2-0,
at [6.2] and [8.2] respectively.

European success has long been on the agenda at Shakhtar Donetsk and finally
it came their way with a dramatic, and fully deserved, Uefa Cup final win over Werder Bremen last May. Since then, the feared fire-sale from the club never materialised and the club started the Ukrainian league season earlier this month with Dario Srna still club captain and superb centre-back Dmitry Chygrynsky having turned down a move to Barcelona. The squad that has won their first two games of the season, yet to concede a goal, have also boosted their attacking options with the re-signing of Julius Aghahowa.

Their opponents, Poli Timisoara, lost their last two matches of the season to miss out on the title by three points and have a new coach at the helm, Ioan Sabau. After they lost their last friendly, 2-0 to Cologne, German striker Lukas Podolski warned Shakhtar that, "they are a dangerous side, with lots of pace". But the advantage that Shakhtar have by having already started their season is a huge one, and their confidence in Europe should see them to a comfortable win. The 3-0 correct score may provide decent value nearer the time while the over 2.5 goals selection is worth a look at around [1.8].

The English interest at this stage comes from Steve McClaren's side Twente, who have lost last season's star performer Eljero Elia to Hamburg ahead of their trip to Sporting in Lisbon. The Portuguese side have managed to hold onto their key player, Miguel Veloso, and have added Manchester City cast-off Felipe Caicedo to their striking options.

They have also stuck with coach Paulo Bento despite speculation that Sven-Goran Eriksson was lined up to take over. How will this affect the game? Well, Sporting were mixed at home in Europe last year, beating Basel (2-0) and Shakhtar (1-0) but losing
to Barcelona (5-2) and Bayern Munich (5-0). With the stakes so high it should be a cagey encounter and I expect goals to be at a premium. The markets to follow, therefore, will be the under-2.5 goals ([1.79]), the draw ([3.7]) and the 0-0 correct score.

Anderlecht and Sivasspor perhaps represent the least threat to the established order and both will fancy their chances in this tie. The Belgian runners-up have played 4-3-3 in all their pre-season matches but are set to switch to a more cautious 4-4-2 against the Turks, who have sold strikers Herve Tum and Pini Balili this summer.

Last season's top scorer, Mehmet Yildiz, has stayed, but with only one goal in his last ten games at the back of last season, pressure is on him to perform. Despite their European pedigree, Anderlecht have a very young side and with Jelle van Damme refusing to play as he wants to move abroad, could find things difficult against Bulent Uygen's improving side. Sivasspor could reach the next round, and they are ([4.7]) to win in Belgium.

Recommended Bets:

Panathinaikos to win 1-0 @ [6.2]
Over-2.5 goals in Shakhtar-Timisoara @ [1.86] or better
Sporting and Twente to draw @ 3.7
Sivasspor to beat Anderlecht @ 4.7